Pressure-operated device for leading wires through conduits



Oct. 13, 1931. c, w, KELLEY 1,827,239

PRESSURE OPERATED DEVICE FOR LEADING WIRES THROUGH CONDUITS Filed July26, 1928 4 writ/11111;}???

IN VEN TOR.

CCVI TKeZZ'Q BY @9/ y ATTORNEY! 25 same.

Patented Oct. 13, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT 7 CHARLES w. KELLEY, orPURGELLVILLE, VIRGINIA,

rRESsURE-OPERATED DEVICE non LEADING WIRES THROUGH cou ons, -1 7Application filed July 26,

This invention relates to electrical apparatus and more particularly toa device for 7 leading a wire or cable through a conduit. At the presenttime electric cables are passed through conduits buried in the groundand wires constituting a lighting circuit for a building are passedthrough pipes embedded in walls or extending between a floor and aceiling, It sometimes happens that a wire or 10 cable will become brokenor the insulation about wires will be damaged by lightning therebymaking it necessary to withdraw the cable or wire and substitute a newone in place of the one which has become broken or otherwisev damaged.It has been found to be very diflicult to pass a wire'through aconduitor pipe, especially if the pipe or conduit contains bends insteadof a extending straight throughout its length, and, i

therefore, onefobjectof the inventionis to 1 provide an apparatus bymeans of which a cord maybe threaded through a pipe or conduit even ifit contains bends and by means of the cord drawa wire or cable throughthe Attempts have been previously made to pass a cord through a pipethrough the medium of a leader attached to the cord and v V propelledthrough the pipe by compressed air or otherfluid under pressure but theyhave not been found successful as the leader would catch against elbowsemployed to form bends in the pipe or against the ends of pipe sectionsconnected by. a coupling, and, therefore,

' :35. another object of the invention is to provide a-leader which willreadily pass through a pipe and includes a core-engaging stemso'connected with'the body of the leader that itmay have pivotalmovement and thereby p p Aofallow the leader to easily follow bends in a3 pipe without becoming caught intermediate the length of the pipe. 3 v[Another object of the invention is to vpro- ..vide'j an apparatus ofthis character includ- I "ing a source of compressed air having a valve1928. Serial No. 295,533. I v v I controlled outlet with which a'pipe'of small diameter is connected, the other end of the pipe beingsecured to a larger pipe adapted to be firmly secured about one end of aconduit and formed with an opening through which a cord passes and issecured to thestem of the leader so that, when the "control'valve isopened and air allowed to rush through the conduit, the leader will bemoved through the conduit and draw the cord through the conduit afterit. I Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of thischaracter which may be easily transported from one place to anotherand'employed either for street work or within a building. v

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,.wherein yFigure 1 is a'view showing the apparatus connected with a conduit laidin a street'and the cord drawn partially through the conduit by itsleader;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view ofthe pipes which connect the source ofcompressedair with the conduit; 1 i v Fig. 3 is an enlargedlongitudinalsectional view through the leader, and 1 Fig. 4 is atransverse sectional View through the'conduit with the leader shown inend ele- Vation. 4 v

7 In Figure 1, therehas been showna conduit 1 which is embedded in theground and has one end extending'intoa manhole 2, the upper end" ofwhich is open and normally closed .byjacover 3. The conduit or pipe' 1,0

maybe straight throughout its length or it" may be formed with bends,'asshown at .4,

so that the conduit mayextend about a sewer i e 5 or other" obstruction.In orderto form the bend, elbows'6 are employed-to con- .35 nectcompanion pipesections and compan ion pipe sections employed to form astraight run of conduit maybe connected by couplings, such as shown at7. While I'have 7 only shown one bend in the pipe or conduit,

. the apparatus is in use.

it will be understood that other bends may be formed when necessary andthat the bends may extend either vertically or horizontally or may bemerely employed in order to permit the conduit to turn a corner or havea portion extend at an angle to an adjoining portion.

In order to draw a wire through the pipe or conduit 1, I employ a cord 8which is initially rolled in a ball in order to prevent it from becomingtangled and this cord has one end secured to the stem 9 of a thimble orleader 10, the diameter of which is such that it may be easily movedthrough the pipe by compressed air. This thimble or leader is preferablyformed of metal and includes a head 11 which is arcuate somewhat incross section, as shown in Fig. 3, and at its margins merges intoannular walls 12v which flare toward the open rear end of the thimblewhere they are rolled outwardly to form a bead 13. The bead may extendentirely about, the open rear end of the thimble orthe thinlble may beformed with circumferentially spaced recesses 14 in which are locatedrollers 15 rotatably mounted through thesmedium, of a wire ring 16disposed about the; thimble within the bead 13. By employing therollers, they may contact with the walls of the pipe and thereby reducefriction. and allow the thimble or leader to very easily pass throughthe pipe. The stem 9 is formed of strong wire and has its outer endportion. bent to form an eye 17 into which one end of the cord 8 istied. The stem extends longitudinally through the thimble and has itsforward end portion, embedded solder or a similar substance 18. Theextreme forward end of the stem is bent, as shown at 1,9,to form ananchoring arm which prevents the stem from working loose and movingrearwardly out of the solder, but it should be noted that by turning thestem a pocket 20 and an inwardly tapered opening or throat 21 will beformed so that the stem will be loosely mounted and permittedtohaveuniversal pivotal movement relative to the thimbl'e. Therefore, asthe thimble moves through the pipe, it may have tilting novementthereinand,therefore, the thimble may very easily follow a bend or elbowformed, in the pipe or conduit and there will beino danger of thethimbl'e becoming caught intermediate the length of the pipe.

The source of compressed fluid which is preferably air has beenillustrated as a tank 22 having aninlet 23 through which air may be:pumped into the tank and an outlet valve 24; which will be tightlyclosed, except when A nipple 25v is screwed into the outlet valve andwhen the apparatus is in use one end of a small flex- V ibl'e pipe26-isfitted upon the outer end portion; of the nipple or pipe 25. where itis.

firmly secured by a clamp 27 of a conventional construction. The pipe 26may be of any length desired and has its other end portion fitted into ashort flexible pipe 28 where it is secured by a clamp 29 and the pipe 28in its turn is fitted about the outer end of the pipe or conduit 1 whereit is secured by a clamp 30. An opening 31 is formed in the pipe 28adjacent the end thereof secured about the conduit 1 so that the cord 8may be passed through this opening into the pipe 28 and attached to thestem of the thimble 10 which is placed within the outer end of theconduit before the pipe 28 is secured about the same.

l/Vhen it is desired to pass a wire through an outside conduit or aconduit pipe embedded in the walls of a building, the cord 8 is threadedthrough the opening 31 and tied to the eye 17 of' the stem 9 of thethimble after which the pipe 28 is fitted about the outer end of theconduit pipe where it is tightly secured through the medium of the clamp30. The small pipe 26 is tightly secured about the nipple 25 and thevalve 24 can then be opened in order to allow air to pass from thestorage tank and rush through the pipes 26 and 28 and into the conduitpipe through which it passes and in so doing carries the nipple throughthe conduit :ipe... It should be noted that by employing-t e small pipe26 the air will not lose its force while passing to the pipe 28 which isvery short. In view of the fact that the stem is loosely mounted at itsforward end, the thimble will be allowed to tilt relative to the stemwhen an elbow or bend in a pipe is encountered and, therefore, thethimble or leader will not be liable to become jammed in the conduitpipe. As soon as the thimble passes out of the conduit pipe, the valve24 is shut and the pipe 28 released from the conduit pipe. The cord isthen tied tightly toone end of the wire to be passed through the conduitpipe and this end of the wire may be bent to form an eye or the likeifiso desired in order to prevent danger of the cord slipping off thewire. As the cord is drawn through theconduit pipe, the wire will bedrawn after it and will eventually emerge from the other end of theconduit pipe. It will be understood that if a heavy cable is to be drawnthrough the conduit pipe a rope or the like of sufficient strength maybe first drawn through the pipe by the cord and the cable drawn throughthe pipe by attaching the rope to it and then pulling the rope throughthe conduit.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

Apparatus of'the character described comprising a leader consisting of ahollow body having a head at its forward end and walls extendingrearwardly therefrom, the body being open at its rear and the wallsflaring towards its rear end and rolledoutwardly to form a bead aboutthe rear end of'the body,

recesses being formed in said head in spaced relation to each othercircumferentially of the body, rollers in said recesses, a ring housedin the bead and passing axially through the rollers to retain them 1nthe recesses, and a stem extending longitudinally in said body with oneend connected thereto and its other end adapted to have a cord securedthereto.

In testimony whereof I aifix no signature.

CHARLES W. ELLEY.

